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The Clinical Breast Care Project: an important resource in investigating environmental and genetic contributions to breast cancer in African American women

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Abstract

Age at diagnosis, pathological characteristics, and tumor behavior differ between African American (AAW) and Caucasian women (CW) with breast cancer, with AAW having more aggressive tumors and higher mortality rates. Although both societal and molecular contributions to these disparities have been suggested, the African American population has traditionally been under-represented in research and clinical protocols, limiting the power of epidemiologic and molecular studies to provide better understanding of disease pathogenesis in this minority population. The Clinical Breast Care Project (CBCP) has developed a large tissue and blood repository from patients undergoing treatment for breast cancer, with previous history of breast cancer, counseled in the Risk Reduction Clinic, screened by routine mammography, or undergoing elective reductive mammoplasty. Recruitment of AAW into the CBCP was successful; 25% of the 2,454 female patients were African American, including 35% disease-free, 3% high-risk, 40% benign, 8% preinvasive and 14% with invasive breast disease. More than 500 data fields regarding lifestyle choices, socioeconomic status, health history and geography were collected from all participants, and all consenting individuals provided blood specimens for genomic and proteomic studies. Tissues were collected from all patients undergoing surgical procedures using protocols that preserve the macromolecules for downstream research applications. In addition, patients were followed after diagnosis, with >85% of patients providing ongoing and updated demographic and clinical information. Thus, recruitment efforts in the CBCP have resulted in collection of well-annotated information and research-quality specimens from a large number of AAW. This unique resource will allow for the identification of biological and environmental factors associated with the identification of genetic and non-genetic factors associated with the occurrence, detection, prognosis, or survival of breast cancer in AAW.

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Abbreviations

AAW:

African American women

ADH:

Atypical ductal hyperplasia

BSE:

Breast self exam

CBCP:

Clinical Breast Care Project

CBE:

Clinical breast exam

CW:

Caucasian women

DOD:

Department of Defense

OCT:

Optimal cutting temperature

SES:

Socioeconomic status

WRAMC:

Walter Reed Army Medical Center

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Jamie Wyandt and Emily Gutchell for their assistance in preparing this manuscript and Dr. Darrell Ellsworth for critical review and helpful comments.

This work was performed under the auspices of the Clinical Breast Care Project with funding provided by federal appropriations from the United States Department of Defense and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine [grant MDA-905-00-1-0022 to C.D.S.]. Ethical approval has been granted by the independent Institutional Review Boards of Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Windber Medical Center.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Breast Care Project, Windber Research Institute, 620 Seventh Street, Windber, PA , 15963, USA

    Rachel E. Ellsworth

  2. United States Military Cancer Institute, Washington, DC, 20307, USA

    Kangmin Zhu

  3. Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC, 20307, USA

    Lee Bronfman, Veronica Gutchell, Jeffrey A. Hooke & Craig D. Shriver

Authors
  1. Rachel E. Ellsworth
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  2. Kangmin Zhu
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  3. Lee Bronfman
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  4. Veronica Gutchell
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  5. Jeffrey A. Hooke
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  6. Craig D. Shriver
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rachel E. Ellsworth.

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The opinion and assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or as representing the views of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.

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Ellsworth, R.E., Zhu, K., Bronfman, L. et al. The Clinical Breast Care Project: an important resource in investigating environmental and genetic contributions to breast cancer in African American women. Cell Tissue Banking 9, 109–120 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10561-007-9054-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10561-007-9054-z

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